Tacoma requires owned cats to be licensed and identified, encourages indoor or supervised outdoor housing, and authorizes the Humane Society to handle stray, nuisance, and trap-neuter-return situations across the city.
Under Tacoma Municipal Code Chapter 4, cat owners must license their pets annually with the Humane Society for Tacoma and Pierce County, which holds the city animal services contract. Licenses require proof of rabies vaccination and reduced fees for spayed or neutered animals. Cats running at large can be impounded, especially when they cause property damage, fight with other animals, or harm wildlife. The city supports trap-neuter-return programs for community cats but expects responsible owners to keep pets contained. Repeated nuisance complaints, abandonment of litters, or failure to license can lead to enforcement action, including fines and impoundment of animals.
Operating without a current cat license, abandoning kittens, allowing repeated nuisance behavior, or failing to claim an impounded cat can result in fines, impoundment fees, and possible loss of ownership.
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See how Tacoma's cat rules rules stack up against other locations.
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